Friday, April 4, 2014

Playing School

The 3rd Marking Period ended Friday. Which means the 4th Marking Period begins on Monday. As I looked at the calendar and my plans today, numbers started to rise off the page.

I had to start scrawling them down...

50: days remaining in school before our 8th grade students take final exams.

48: percentage of remaining uninterrupted classroom days that kids will be tested, quizzed, or assessed beyond the state testing and finals; this does not account for assessments in foreign language, art, music, etc.

31: uninterrupted classroom days (62% of our days in school will be spent in a teaching environment)

30: assessments awaiting students in core classes (consider that each of the five core courses is required a minimum of 6 grades per marking period; this does not account for assessments in foreign language, art, music, etc.)

26: days kids will be tested or assessed if we apply the theory that teachers will be careful to not schedule more than two graded assessments per day (52%); however, the reality is kids will have some work piled up on individual days

19: interrupted classroom days (38%) due to mandated testing, days off, etc.

19: percentage of remaining uninterrupted classroom days that teachers will need to apply an assessment

17: total tests (mandated and our finals) taken in addition to daily coursework

12: mandated tests

11: days of mandated testing (22%)

10: rough estimate of days before the final exams when students will receive study guides

6: minimum number of assessments each course must account for each marking period

5: final exams

3: days of final exams

3: mandated reading tests

3: mandated mathematics tests

2: mandated science tests

2: mandated writing tests

2: (additional) mandated math tests

Is it just me, or has our country pretty much ensured that we are working harder at "playing school" than working towards inspiring creativity, growth, and life-long learners?